The Official Bay Area Ferrari Owners Group (FOG) Rally & Breakfast

A couple of more pics from this weekend. It was a great drive and great to see everyone again. 4RE congrates on the new Ferrari. It looks absolutely awesome. A real surprise for all of us.

Italiano - you gave a new meaning to the term flying and two wheel driving. I have seen sport bikes do a rolling endo (Rolling Endo = reverse wheelie with the rear wheel in the air while rolling to a stop on the front wheel - for those non-stunt bike people), but never a Ferrari! If you catch anymore air you are going to need a pilots license. I wish I had it on video, it would have made a great slo-mo clip. Nice save.
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Great shots everyone.

For those headed to Infineon tomorrow, I'll see you there. They let me sneak in at the last minute. FYI - I'm definitely in the Novice category and they may not have an instructor for me. You've been warned.

-DrC

 

Take Dr. Italiani in your car -- he'll be there!

 

...first come first served..?

Right Vraiment?

 

Butcher, as to suprises, you always have to believe there is something more!! What you don't realize is that having 40 year old cars means you don't need much garage space because you alwasy have one or two parked at the mechanics!
that was a great drive and meet.
See you in two weeks.
Joe

 

Just to remind everyone of FOG bylaw Article 2, SS 10, Clause #4, Posted pics must not contain license plate numbers without owner's prior approval.

 

Just to remind everyone of FOG bylaw Article 2, SS 10, Clause #4, Posted pics must not contain license plate numbers without owner's prior approval.

My bad.

 

As many of you know, a few of us headed off to Infineon today. I'll have more thoughts and pics in the coming days, but I just wanted to put up this quick post while everything is still fresh.

This was my first time on a track on 4 wheels. I did the two wheeled variety over 20 years ago, so I am truly a novice. That said, I wasn't passed the entire day, thanks mostly to my instructor, Mario. Here is the good/bad:

The Good:
Infineon is an amazing track. Very technical.
I learned what an apex is and I learned what they look like when you miss them completely.
I learned how to trail brake and throttle steer.
My 328 holds it's own (and then some) despite it's age.
I passed every imaginable car, including an Ariel Atom, Porsche GT3, an open wheel racer and even a formula-looking car.

The Bad:
At 2 pm in turn 7, my car just gave out. There was a weird flapping sound and then it stalled. I still managed to coast to pit row and out of harms way.
The tow truck took over three hours to get there. At least my FOG brethren hung out to keep me company. F-guys just stick together.* A truly amazing bunch.
When I got back to the lot where I stored my gear during my lap, I see my fiberglass top split in two. Someone drove right over it! The good news is that it was witnessed by tons of folks, including a few who had pics of the Porsche that did the damage. Mario and I found the guy and he completely admitted his error and was quite forthcoming with his insurance info. Honest mistake, but it sure felt like adding insult to injury.
I did get flagged at one point. The GT3 couldn't believe I was passing him, but when he finally gave me the hand signal for the pass by, he pointed to the inside track heading into the hairpin turn (#11). I spun a little coming out, but held my composure and managed to keep in front of the Porsche. Still, getting "one strike" felt like a badge of honor.

All totaled, the track experience far outweighed the negatives. Thanks to everyone for setting this up. Believe it or not, I'm still smiling.

* I cannot emphasize this enough. I owe a HUGE thanks to Andrew. He hung around FAR longer than anyone should have, and he gave me a fantastic ride in his 355 back to Palo Alto. Andrew, you are a man among men and I'm proud to call you a friend.

-DrC

 

Sorry to hear about the car, but I'm glad overall you had a good experience. Check Ferrparts for another top if it's not repairable. Yep, the FOG brethren look after each other. After all, in our line of fun, our cars are bound to hiccup at some time. The joy the cars bring us clearly outweighs all of their inconveniences. I'm looking forward to the Infineon pics and some day look forward to joining the group out on the track.

 

Very sorry to hear about the car but I am glad you still had a good time. That's a positive attitude we can all learn from.

 

DrChako, you are welcome. I wouldn't think of treating our FOG brethren anyway else. You were doing very well driving at the track, and glad it was a good day in spite of the troubles.

It was great to have such a great FOG turn out, even if we were "terrorizing" some of the other drivers. I guess at least we are consistent. The 355 ran great today; I was seeing over 110 on the back stretch. Vraiment, Jeff and Italiano, you guys are amazing drivers and keep me honest. Great weather at the track, except for the first session that was still wet. Sorry to see the Shelby GT 350 ball it up - ouch!

Here are a few pics from today.
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Great shots SKUSA! And I was remiss in not mentioning Vraiment, Jeff and Italiano. Jeff, it was great meeting you finally. What a beautiful R8. Hopefully I'll be there to sample the shaken but not stirred vintage wine when it finally emerges. Vraiment, I still lust for your car. You handle it beautifully. Italiano, that was a beast of a Hemi. Too bad I didn't get the opportunity to have you blow past me. I promise I would have given you the pass-by hand signal, unlike those few bad apples who were so white-knuckle absorbed in their own car to bother checking the rear view mirror.

And to anyone who has ever considered tracking their car, do it at Infineon and do it with these guys.

-DrC

PS. That last pic just kills me. I'll let everyone know the damage when I hear from Brian Crall.

 

What a day! I hope that next time we can encourage a few more FOGers to show up. These are really fantastics days, and there's nothing like tracking with your FOG brothers. SKUSA. Italiani, Dr. C, Rebel, JG -- thanks for coming out and making it such a great day. For those who didn't make it, a video will be posted later today to give you a feel for what the day was like. BTW, Dr. C, hands down, you get the Oscar AND the Emmy for the ability to hold a positive attitude and find the good in otherwise unfortunate circumstances. Fingers crossed that the car issue is a simple fix! Here are a few pics to show you what was out there and an oldie from the last big breakfast.
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I could not agree more. This is what Ferraris are made for. As drchako can attest, even with no track experience this is safe approach to learning to really experience your Ferrari. And oh how much fun it can be!

I wonder if Trackmasters would make a separate FOG group at one of their events if we could get 16 Foggers to signup since this was the size of one or the groups yesterday.

An official signup would come later, but I am curious with appropriate amount of lead time how many would be interested in a FOG group for a track day with Trackmasters or other organization? (Dr. Italiano, we could put in a special provision for you allowing passing with absolutely no prior notice, whether it be by point by, email, text, etc, essentially providing you with a back flag free zone, well maybe a black flag for NOT creating enough tire smoke, but you get the dirft.... pun intended )

Looking for a show of hands. Please list your name here if you are interested in possibly doing a track day with FOG

1. SKUSA
2.

 

Looks like you guys had a great time at the track, wish I could have made it, had a work appointment I just couldn't get out of. Next time i'm in!

Sorry about your 328 Dr C, hopefully nothing to serious, the final straw for the "other" purchase perhaps??

Andrew, your 355 looks awsome in the photo's and i'm sure with your driving prowess you showed some of the more modern machines a thing or two!

 

The man knows how to pilot that black beast, for sure!

 

Looks like so much fun, wish I could have joined. I would really love to do this in the next available opportunity, but with the recently projects and heavy travels, going to see if I get lucky next time.

 

This is one of those rare moments where I lament having a Cabriolet. They don't seem to like open tops on tracks and for good reason.

I simply tell myself I'm saving on tires and brakes by not tracking my car. Then I see how much fun you guys are having...

 

This video was shot from the inside of my car on Monday at the Infineon Track-Masters event.

As you will see, at 5 minutes into the video a Porsche loses control in front of me at turn number 5.

Because he's moving blistering fast you may not recognize the fast pass at the Grand Stand at 6:42; it's Rebel in his R8.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VBrWjxQdKg


Enjoy!

 

Great video, sound, and scrolling pics at the end. Looks like that P- car was feeling a bit of pressure from the Scud-missle that was rapidly closing in on him. Maybe a rushed/sloppy downshift into the turn caused him to break. Good thing it was on a track. I too, would like to try tracking with the FOG brethren, sometime in the future. Looks like a lot of fun.

 

+ 1

 

...although I left early, BOTH, SKUSA, and JTOQUINO, both you guys were keeping me honest, turn ten was a 4 wheel drift corner, in my Dodge Challenger I was working for it. You fellows drove well, very well and I was sorry that DR Chuck had the issues that manifested it's self...

Gents...there is NO way other than the track to find the limit of your car....no idiot putting on mascara, talking on the phone...and that is the men (!)...anyway, the track participants are all looking the same direction, there are corner workers, and paramedics too...

Come on out.

see you then,

Italiani

 

great video. the only part missing during the slo-mo replay was a voice over "oooohhhh nooooo"

 

holycrap the fourth shot of your car is AMAZING!! What a great looking car.

 

Awsome video! The Scud shifting is incredibly fast!